It had been a rough month for Ashley Jarratt.

The soon-to-be eighth-grader at St. Aloysius had reached the finals in two consecutive tennis tournaments, only to come up a little bit short and finish second both times. One of those cost her a state championship.

Last weekend, however, she finally put everything together again and got back to her winning ways.

Jarratt won the 14-and-under girls’ singles championship in the Pepsi Open in Jackson on June 25 and 26 for her first individual tournament title. The victory followed a loss in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools girls’ doubles state title match in May, and another in the finals of the DSA tournament the week prior.

“I guess I had just gotten second place so much that I wanted to do better this time,” Jarratt said.

Before the brief swoon, Jarratt had won 15 consecutive matches during the high school season with her St. Al doubles partner Taylor Chewning. After losing in the girls’ singles final of the DSA tournament to another St. Al teammate, Anne Stewart Piazza, Jarratt got back on track.

Jarratt lost her opening match in the Pepsi Open to Olivia Moore. She then came back to beat Moore twice, including an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory in the championship match at Parham Bridges Tennis Center.

“In the tournament, I played the same girl three times. I lost, then I beat her pretty soundly and then won again,” Jarratt said.

Jarratt has two more tournaments scheduled for July before school starts a few weeks later. She said she’s happy with the way she’s played this summer and hopes to keep her roll going.

“I’ve played in a good bit of tournaments,” she said. “I think I’ve been doing good this summer so far.”